Observation/Reflection #4 - What Was the Question?
This week, try to pay attention to how your teacher asks questions and facilitates discussion in his or her classes. What types of questions does your CT ask? Are most of the questions asking students to relay facts or textbook definitions (recall) or to apply a concept to a new situation or compare it to another concept (application or analysis). Does your teacher ever encourage his or her students to be critical or skeptical? If so, when and how? Does your CT ever ask students to provide evidence to support a claim or explain their thinking? Does your teacher facilitate classroom discussion so that students are expressing scientific ideas to other students? Finally, does your CT vary the type of questions he or she asks depending on the level of the class, or the perceived ability of the student? Remember to reflect on what types of classroom discourse you want to foster in your classroom, how you will go about doing this, and why.
Observations
This week, Mrs. Brocato was introducing her class to the use of microscopes. She started off the class going over a worksheet that they had completed last class going over the parts of a microscope. She filled out the worksheet as she went over it so that the students could see exactly what she was looking for as answers and they got the correct spelling. She continuously asked questions to the class. She asked what each part of the microscope was and what they thought it would be used for. The class had already filled out the worksheet themselves so they had their own answers in front of them. They were very responsive to Mrs. Brocato’s questions. She was asking them to recall the names of the parts as well as apply what they know to figure out what the different parts are used for. Some students she would simply call on for the answer while others would raise their hands. After labeling the microscope, Mrs. Brocato passed out a sheet that had a checklist to go through when working with microscopes. This sheet was to be kept and referred to throughout the rest of the year. She went through the checklist with her students, which gave step by step instructions on how to set up, focus, and put away the microscopes. She demonstrated each part for the class and had them do each step along with her. After this, she handed out a worksheet with instructions for a mini-lab working with the microscopes. The students had to look at the letter “e” under low and high power and draw what they saw. This class work was to be done on their own with their own microscope. Some students had questions but Mrs. Brocato said that she would only help if they could prove to her that they had gone through every last step on the checklist and still needed help. This lesson did not include a great deal of classroom discussion after the microscope worksheet because it the activity was student oriented and hands-on. Overall, Mrs. Brocato uses classroom discussion as much as possible. A few weeks ago, they had a discussion about what makes something a living thing. The students came up with a bunch of ideas and she questioned them and pushed them to come up with a detailed explanation. She includes the whole class in on discussions, asking some students to add to what others come up with. This week, I was able to observe on two different days, one day I observed this activity and the other day the class was working on a team project having to do with their trip to Salem.
Reflection
This week I was able to observe one class where the students were working in their groups from their team field trip on a project, which allowed me to see the team dynamics of the Black Knight’s team. The students had to put together a project in assigned groups of three based on the field trip that they went to Salem. The students were grouped according to their interests that they indicated on a survey before the field trip and their project was also based on what they were interested in. For example, the students that were strong artists designed and painted the windows of the classroom while the strong writers wrote a newsletter about the trip. It was interesting to see the students work together and I thought this was a great idea to get them to focus on a field trip but also do what they are interested in. The second class that I observed did show me a great deal about communication and questioning students. I think it is important to not just tell students facts and expects them to absorb them. If they come up with ideas about something, they will be more likely to remember it and be able to apply it. Also, the demonstration was very effective and having the students do what she was doing really explained what se expected. This was, she could correct anyone who was doing anything wrong through the demonstration and she would not have to during their activity. I will definitely implement this technique in my classroom.
Observation/Reflection #4 - What Was the Question?
This week, try to pay attention to how your teacher asks questions and facilitates discussion in his or her classes. What types of questions does your CT ask? Are most of the questions asking students to relay facts or textbook definitions (recall) or to apply a concept to a new situation or compare it to another concept (application or analysis). Does your teacher ever encourage his or her students to be critical or skeptical? If so, when and how? Does your CT ever ask students to provide evidence to support a claim or explain their thinking? Does your teacher facilitate classroom discussion so that students are expressing scientific ideas to other students? Finally, does your CT vary the type of questions he or she asks depending on the level of the class, or the perceived ability of the student? Remember to reflect on what types of classroom discourse you want to foster in your classroom, how you will go about doing this, and why.Observations
This week, Mrs. Brocato was introducing her class to the use of microscopes. She started off the class going over a worksheet that they had completed last class going over the parts of a microscope. She filled out the worksheet as she went over it so that the students could see exactly what she was looking for as answers and they got the correct spelling. She continuously asked questions to the class. She asked what each part of the microscope was and what they thought it would be used for. The class had already filled out the worksheet themselves so they had their own answers in front of them. They were very responsive to Mrs. Brocato’s questions. She was asking them to recall the names of the parts as well as apply what they know to figure out what the different parts are used for. Some students she would simply call on for the answer while others would raise their hands. After labeling the microscope, Mrs. Brocato passed out a sheet that had a checklist to go through when working with microscopes. This sheet was to be kept and referred to throughout the rest of the year. She went through the checklist with her students, which gave step by step instructions on how to set up, focus, and put away the microscopes. She demonstrated each part for the class and had them do each step along with her. After this, she handed out a worksheet with instructions for a mini-lab working with the microscopes. The students had to look at the letter “e” under low and high power and draw what they saw. This class work was to be done on their own with their own microscope. Some students had questions but Mrs. Brocato said that she would only help if they could prove to her that they had gone through every last step on the checklist and still needed help. This lesson did not include a great deal of classroom discussion after the microscope worksheet because it the activity was student oriented and hands-on. Overall, Mrs. Brocato uses classroom discussion as much as possible. A few weeks ago, they had a discussion about what makes something a living thing. The students came up with a bunch of ideas and she questioned them and pushed them to come up with a detailed explanation. She includes the whole class in on discussions, asking some students to add to what others come up with. This week, I was able to observe on two different days, one day I observed this activity and the other day the class was working on a team project having to do with their trip to Salem.Reflection
This week I was able to observe one class where the students were working in their groups from their team field trip on a project, which allowed me to see the team dynamics of the Black Knight’s team. The students had to put together a project in assigned groups of three based on the field trip that they went to Salem. The students were grouped according to their interests that they indicated on a survey before the field trip and their project was also based on what they were interested in. For example, the students that were strong artists designed and painted the windows of the classroom while the strong writers wrote a newsletter about the trip. It was interesting to see the students work together and I thought this was a great idea to get them to focus on a field trip but also do what they are interested in. The second class that I observed did show me a great deal about communication and questioning students. I think it is important to not just tell students facts and expects them to absorb them. If they come up with ideas about something, they will be more likely to remember it and be able to apply it. Also, the demonstration was very effective and having the students do what she was doing really explained what se expected. This was, she could correct anyone who was doing anything wrong through the demonstration and she would not have to during their activity. I will definitely implement this technique in my classroom.